1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electrochemical components and more particularly to an improved method of forming an adhered bead separator on the face of an electrode and an improved tool for use with said method.
2. Prior Art
For many years silver chloride electrode plates have been beaded or studded with small electrically nonconductive glass or plastic beads by embedding the beads under pressure in the surface of the plates. The conventional method of accomplishing this is to hold the beads in a spaced configuration in a specially fabricated hardened alloy steel die. The die contains very small holes therethrough with chamfers. The dies are very difficult and expensive to fabricate because the holes must be smaller in diameter than the beads, that is, less than about 0.035", and the depth of the countersink or chamfer determines the thickness of the finished plate. The die is used in the case of silver chloride plates to embed the beads in the surface of the plates. The plastic silver chloride which is displaced during the embedding flows up plastically around the bead and is shaped by the countersink or chamfered surface to form a skirt around the bead which is higher than the centerline of the spherical bead and which thus holds the bead firmly in position on the surface of the silver chloride plate during use of the plate. As indicated above, the die is expensive and difficult to fabricate. Normally, a relatively inexpensive pilot hole is first drilled partly through the plate and then the expensive small hole is drilled the rest of the way through the plate, after which the outside end of the hole is chamfered.
The same type of tooling has been used to apply the beads to surfaces of electrodes which do not have plastic flow properties but which require or for which it is desired to provide bead separators. In such instances the beads have been adhesively joined to the electrodes, specifically to depressions in the electrodes after drilling those depressions or forcing the beads against the electrode surfaces to depress the same. Crushing of the beads can occur under such circumstances.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved method and equipment for beading the surfaces of deformable electrodes which do not have plastic flow properties. Such method and, equipment should be relatively simple, inexpensive and efficient.